Paying coaches vs Players

[outoftown]

The NIL discussion made me realize that some of how money will be spent is probably a question of what the best allocation is. So if the money were equal (say 3.5 million a year) how do you think it yields the best on field return? Is it more important to spend money to have great players, or to spend it to have a great coach. Where is the line?

And in a different question how do you feel the money SHOULD be spent (some folks it appears to me might not feel that it needs to be spent in the way to maximize on field success).

[GMG_Dallas]

This is the coaches vs players debate. Which one impacts winning the most? I think they're almost equally as important but I'd put a slightly bit greater value on the players if talking strictly about talent on the field. That said, I wonder if 18-22 year olds will listen to an assistant coach who they're making more than (NIL + scholarship value). Maturity is to be considered here. Thoughts?

[Wag Tag]

I believe you will see a reduction or at least leveling off on coaches salaries. Money will now be going to the collective over supplementing coaches salaries and facility improvements from the donors. Best case scenario is you see a lot of new alums in the collective. I hope so.

[keith]

In less than 12 months we've gone from, "of course a student should be able to sell his/her autograph (or trade it for a tattoo) or earn money off of his/her celebrity by endorsing products or brands" to "how do we raise money to pay athletes to play for our school?"  

What started as it's only fair that a person should be allowed to make money based on their name, image or likeness has become a gross distortion of pay-for-play.  It all seemed reasonable that someone should be compensated if they attended an autograph signing event, gave a speech to a group or, by use of their name or image, endorsed a product or service.  I mean, who could disagree with that?  Predictably, it's all gone off the rails rather quickly.   

[TIgreen01]

Um, why not just look to the NFL for answers?  The salary cap is currently $208 million.  Coaches salaries are hard to find beyond HC and coordinators, but average staff size is 15 with most assistants making $500k or under (from what I can gather). Head coach and coordinator salaries are much higher but top out at $8mil for HC and  ~$2mil for high end coordinators.  Total it all up and NFL teams might spend $20mil on coaching, or less than 10% of what they spend on players.

[Pellom]

16 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

Um, why not just look to the NFL for answers?  The salary cap is currently $208 million.  Coaches salaries are hard to find beyond HC and coordinators, but average staff size is 15 with most assistants making $500k or under (from what I can gather). Head coach and coordinator salaries are much higher but top out at $8mil for HC and  ~$2mil for high end coordinators.  Total it all up and NFL teams might spend $20mil on coaching, or less than 10% of what they spend on players.

Hard to compare to the NFL because even if salaries were the same, high school prospects would still choose P5 programs with better facilities and more fan support. 

[97and03]

Invalid poll. The methodology is flawed since the school doesn’t determine the NIL pool but it does pay  the coaching salaries. A school can’t cap the NIL money like it can decide how much it wants to pay coaches. 

[Pellom]

I don’t know which level it will begin at, but it seems the natural progression would be to pay college athletes a salary and get rid of these NIL “collectives”. Boosters are going to realize they are not getting the bang for their buck when they spend a ton of money on a player just for him to transfer after one or two semesters. 
 

Pay players at whatever rate work study students get - and pay them for their hours in the gym, on the practice field, in film study and on the field on Saturdays. And then allow boosters to donate to the fund to make this a reality. 

[Dannymacfan]

23 minutes ago, Pellom said:

I don’t know which level it will begin at, but it seems the natural progression would be to pay college athletes a salary and get rid of these NIL “collectives”. Boosters are going to realize they are not getting the bang for their buck when they spend a ton of money on a player just for him to transfer after one or two semesters. 
 

Pay players at whatever rate work study students get - and pay them for their hours in the gym, on the practice field, in film study and on the field on Saturdays. And then allow boosters to donate to the fund to make this a reality. 

That’s sort of where I am at.  What happens after a couple of stud players end up being busts and donors that have donated millions decide F this I need to use my money for better things.  Facilities last for decades heck look at the outdoor practice facility, it still bears Dickey’s name and  turns out that McIngvale spent that money well.  Someone at Ohio State paid that QB Ewers 1 million in high school and he doesn’t even play there anymore.  A few more of those and you will see things change.

[El Paso Eagle]

At some point there will be a call to pay all players directly from the schools, especially with the mega conferences, THey keep talking about all of the money the schools make. Fine. Once the schools pay directly they will have to do it to all sports. If one of your main points is the amount of money earned "of these players" then how do you justify paying the same to the women's teams (and yes with Title 9 this will be a must) and the non-revenue men's sports?

[gruu]

Off

[97and03]

10 minutes ago, Dannymacfan said:

That’s sort of where I am at.  What happens after a couple of stud players end up being busts and donors that have donated millions decide F this I need to use my money for better things.  Facilities last for decades heck look at the outdoor practice facility, it still bears Dickey’s name and  turns out that McIngvale spent that money well.  Someone at Ohio State paid that QB Ewers 1 million in high school and he doesn’t even play there anymore.  A few more of those and you will see things change.

No, GTM Sports Marketing paid him that money. 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32120440/ohio-state-buckeyes-qb-quinn-ewers-nil-deal-14-million-source-says

"The contract with GT Sports Marketing is for three years and is in exchange for autographs."

 

Ewers is a poor example because he is an exceptional talent and has national level deals, so it does not matter where he plays.  More relevant would be these alumni-created pots of money that will lure players to sign with nice payouts only to see them transfer without ever playing. 

[El Paso Eagle]

5 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

No, GTM Sports Marketing paid him that money. 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32120440/ohio-state-buckeyes-qb-quinn-ewers-nil-deal-14-million-source-says

"The contract with GT Sports Marketing is for three years and is in exchange for autographs."

 

Ewers is a poor example because he is an exceptional talent and has national level deals, so it does not matter where he plays.  More relevant would be these alumni-created pots of money that will lure players to sign with nice payouts only to see them transfer without ever playing. 

[TheColonyEagle]

Jimmys and Joes or Xs and Os?

 

[outoftown]

16 hours ago, 97and03 said:

Invalid poll. The methodology is flawed since the school doesn’t determine the NIL pool but it does pay  the coaching salaries. A school can’t cap the NIL money like it can decide how much it wants to pay coaches. 

This is more a question as to what boosters ought to do, less what the school ought to do. If you were a mega booster, shouldn't you ask yourself this question? Even if you are rich enough to be able to spend a 6 or 7 figure some, chances are money is still limited and you can't reasonably spend an 8 figure sum. At some point you gotta wonder how you spend it efficiently to achieve what you aim to achieve with it. And I am sure when firing and hiring coaches, the AD has to deal with the boosters and their thoughts on the topic.

Edited August 3, 2022 by outoftown